Chester



(Model.)

0. 0. CLARK. Automatic Cork Extractor.

' Patented May 24, 1881.,

No.24l,929.

a WITNESSES: WMQ/ BY TTORNEYS.

N PETERS, Photo-Lithographer, Wuhinglon. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER O. CLARK, 0F BROWN WOOD, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HENRYFORD, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC CORK-EXTRACTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,929, dated May 24,1881.

' Application filed April 16, 1881.

tically-moving and partially-rotating blade having a harpoon-shaped or.shouldered head for piercing and drawing the corks; in laterally openingand closing jaws for holding the necks of the bottles; in pivoted andlaterallymoving pointed levers for throwing the parts of thecorks awayfrom the blade when withdrawn, and in the construction and combinationof the parts of the device, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of my invention.Fig. 2 is a central vertical section taken on the line x as of Fig.

' 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom view. Fig. 4 is a crosssection taken on the line9 y of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section of a corked bottle, showing thebladein position for withdrawingthe'cork; and Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of one of the adjustable throat-plates. 7

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. g

The frame of the machine consists of the bedplate A, preferably of wood,and the-parallel uprights B B, of meta], said uprights being secured tothe top of the bed-plate by screws or similar means, and tied togetherat their upper ends by the cross-piece b.

The bottom of the bed-plate is provided with the screw-clamps O O, bywhich the machine is secured to the shelf or counter X,fas shown inFig. 1. On opposite sides of the bed-plate are formed the slots,throats, or cut-awayplaces a a, in the latter of which is pivoted thelever I), for the purposes hereinafter stated, the former being for thepurpose of admitting the neck of the bottles between the jaws E E, for

(Model.)

holding the corks to be drawn in line immediately under the blade F.

The blade F is preferably harpoon-shaped, or formed with shoulders, andthe shank f thereof is secured by the set-screw g in a socket formed inthe lower end of the vertical shaft G, which shaft is given averticaland partiall y-rotatin g motion by suitable means. In this instance thevertical motion is imparted by means of a sliding skeleton-framecomposed of the cross-heads H H, each of which is provided at both endswith the ways h h h h, which lit the edges of the uprights B B, and thevertical central rack, I, which engages with the segment-pinion J andlever J, pivoted in and between the upright posts KK, the shaft beingsecured in the journals z i, formed on the front faces of thecross-heads.

The partial rotation of the shaft is imparted by means of the beveledcog-wheel L and the beveled pinion N, secured to the shaft, the cogwheelL being pivoted so as to mesh with the pinion upon the journal n, andprovided with the rigid' horizontal arm M, the outer end of which runsunder the guide P, secured to the front face of the upright B by thescrew-bolts p p, which serve as stops, against which the arm strikesjust before the sliding skeletonframe reaches its hightest and lowestpoint.

The jaws E E, which clasp and hold the neck of the bottle when it isplaced in the opening a of the bed-plate, are wedge-shaped, as shown inFig. 3, and are preferably formed of two plates secured together, with ablock or strip of metal of suitable thickness interposed between them,by the rivets c c, and are hinged at their rear ends to the ears 0 0,formed on the blocks j j, secured to the under side of the bed-plate,and are held apart by the spring 70. The forward ends of the jaws aresupported by the arms e 0, formed on the lower edges of the face-platesl l of the bed-plate, which also form guides for the jaws to move upon,as they are permitted to open, and are closed by the movement of thesliding cross-bar Q. The cross-bar Q passes between the plates of thejaws, and the ends of it move in ways formed by the adjustable metalplates q q, secured to the bottom of the bed-plate, as shown in Fig. 3.

The under side of the cross-bar Q is provided with the perforated lugs qq, through which the rods (1 d, secured to the lugs b b, formed on thestrips q q, pass. The spiral springs d d are placed upon the rods d dand between the lugs, as shown, and thus keep the cross-bar Q pressedforward, in which position the jaws are held closed by the studs 8 8,against which the diagonal edges of thejaws continually impiuge.

The lower end of the lever Dis attached to the central arm, S, of thecross-bar Q by the short link 8, and bythis means, when the levermain Jis lowered to withdraw the cork from a bottle, the under side of itimpinging against the friction-roller T, pivoted in the upper end of thelever D, causes the cross-bar to be drawn back against the thrust of thesprings d d and thejaws to open just in proper time to release the neckof the bottle as the cork is withdrawn.

When the lever J is raised away from the wheel T the lever D is thrownback to the position shown in Fig. 2 by the spiral spring 00, placed onthe pivoted rod x,one end of which passes through a hole in thecross-piece 1', secured to the uprights K K; and the cross-bar Q is alsothrown forward by the action of the springs d d, ready to again claspthe next bottle to be uncorked.

The bottle being in position between the jaws, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2, the lever J is to be raised to nearlya vertical position,which causes the blade to descend into the neck of the bottle, severingthe wires which secure the cork and cutting the cork in two in thecenter. Just as the blade passes through the cork the end of the arm Mstrikes the lower stop, and causes the blade to turn one-quarter around,in the position shown in Fig. 5. The lever J is now brought down, thuselevating the sliding frame and blade and lifting the cork from thebottle. Before the frame reaches its highest point the end of the leverM comes against the stop 1), which causes the blade to be turned to itsoriginal position, and at this time the jaws release the neck of thebottle, as above described.

In order to throw the parts of the cork 0d and away from the blade whenwithdrawn, I provided the two bill-pointed laterally-movin g levers U U,the points of which are held in contact with the shank of the blade,when the blade descends, by the springs u u, and the points reach downnear to the top of the blade when its elevated, so that when the cork israised out of the neck of the bottleit is brought against or upon thesesloping points, which divide the cork and expel itiu two parts away fromthe blade by the lateral motion imparted to the levers, as describedbelow.

The levers U U are pivoted in the cross-plate R, and theoutwardly-curved upward extensions u u thereof pass through theguide-plate V secured to the front face of the lower crosshead, H. Theplate R moves upon the guiderods W \V, secured to and in front of theuprights B B, and the plate is supported on the springs 10 w, placedupon the rods, which normally hold the plate and levers elevated, asshown in Fig. 1, in such position that when the blade is lowered throughthe cork the plate R will be depressed against the action of the springsby the end of the shaft G coming upon it. During this time, and untilthe blade reaches nearly its highestpoint, the points ot'the levers areheld in contact with the shank ofthe blade by the action of the springsu u; but as the blade reaches the highest point the screws 21 e, whichsecure the guide-plate V to the crosshead H, strike against the uppercurved ends, u u, of the levers and cause the points thereof to have asudden lateral movement which throws the parts of the cork ofi" from theblade, as above mentioned.

It will be observed that the front edge of the cross-bar Q is curved outat the center of its length, and serves to hold one side of the neck ofthe bottles, which, together with the hinged jaws, is sufficient to holdthat class of bottles which have rings or grooves around the neckagainst upward or downward movement but to adapt the device to all kindsof bottles I provided the throatoropeningawith the throatplates Y Y,which are hinged to the bed-plate at their front ends, their rear endsbeing held by the top plate, 3 screwed to the bed-plate over thethroat-plate, and the throat-plates are thus capable of adjustment nearto or farther from each other, to suit different kinds and sizes ofbottles, by loosening the screws in the top plate.

By means of the adjustable guide-plates q q the cross-bar Q and the jawsE E can be moved either way to bring each of the jaws equidistant fromthe vertical line ot'movementof the blade, thus insuring the centeringof the mouth of the bottles directly under the point of the blade, sothat the cork will be pierced by the blade in the center.

The parts of this device being thus properly adjusted, with it corks canbe withdrawn from bottles with great rapidity and ease.

The bar or shank of the blade is round and as small as practical, so asto readily turn within the cork when the shoulders of the blade areentirely through and below the same within the bottle.

Having thus fully described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The shouldered blade, in combination withmeans, substantially as shown and described, for imparting to the bladea vertical and partially rotating movement, as and for the purposesspecified.

2. In a device for drawing corks from bottles, the hinged jaws E E, forclaspin g the necks of the bottles, in combination with means,substantially as shown and described, for opening and closing thejaws,as set forth.

3. In a device for drawin gcorks from bottles, thelaterally-movingleversUU, in combination with the vertically-movin g blade F, and means,substantially as described, for operating the levers, as and for thepurposes set forth.

4. Ina devicefordrawing corksfrom bottles, the jaws E E and the slidingcross-bar Q, in combination with the lever D, substantially as and forthe purposes specified.

5. The pivoted jaws E E and the sliding cross-bar Q, in combination withthe adjustable guide-plates q q, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

6. The sliding skeleton-frame, carrying the shaft G and blade F, and thesegment-wheel J

